Defensive errors cost men’s soccer playoff

unt men’s soccer playoff game, resulting in a 2-1 loss against Golden West College on Nov. 18.

East Los Angeles College was evenly matched against Golden West at the start of the game. A counter attack for the Huskies almost resulted a goal, but sophomore winger Luis Alvarado missed inside the penalty box.

During the 20-minute mark, ELAC defender Salvador Alvarez gave a crossing pass to Alvarado, which resulted in a goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

ELAC continued to have trouble with Golden West’s counter attacks whenever they lost the ball.

“I think we did a good job on opening the score. We mentally had a lapse and we received a 1-1 right away, literally a minute later” assistant coach David Garcia said, referring to ELAC’s concentration during the first half.

ELAC’s defensive troubles continued when Golden West scored from a counter attack, however, it was called an offside.

“From our side, it was just the fact that we weren’t as consistent with our possession as Golden West was,” said Garcia, referring to the first half of the game.

In the second half of the game, ELAC had more defensive errors with counter attacks and dealt with frustration.

Two minutes after subbing in for midfielder Edy Martinez, ELAC’s winger Kevin Rodriguez was smacked in the nose by a foul and started to bleed.

Both teams were evenly matched to get the playoff win.

In the 67th minute, Golden West took advantage of ELAC’s defensive error and scored to take the 2-1 lead against the Huskies.

“By being a bit lazy, they punished us. That unbalanced us. I felt like we were solid at the first half. I guess we just lost our heads and it just went downhill from there,” Alvarado said.

ELAC’s struggles continued with fewer players on the field.

In the 79th minute, Golden West had another counter attack which forced ELAC’s captain sophomore defender Agustin Barros to slide tackle Golden West’s forward, resulting in a red card.

“Two mistakes cost us the game. With two red cards, it was more difficult to come back to get a tie,” Barros said.

In the 85th minute, Alvarez had an altercation with a Golden West defender that resulted in a double yellow card, equivalent to a red card, leaving ELAC with nine players on the field.

ELAC tried to attack Golden West’s goal, but the referee finished the game.

“I was impressed with the quality of the team and how professional everybody was. This is soccer so sometimes you need to be lucky, and I think we were a bit lucky” Golden West head coach Alex Gimenez said.

“It was a tough loss” ELAC assistant coach Garcia said, referring to his team being eliminated from playoffs. ELAC’s playoff run ended with an overall record of 9-8-5.

CN/ STEPHANIE GUEVARASCORING FOR THE TEAM – Sophomore Luis Alvarado (7) strikes the ball for a scoring opportunity against Golden West College on Saturday November 18.